Watch "500 Days of Summer" before answering these questions.
Textbook: Interplay: The Process of Interpersonal Communication, 12th Edition, Adler, Rosenfeld & Proctor
1) Summarize your reaction to this film in a four-sentence poem, rhyming or non-rhyming. This is not an option. To earn points for this question you MUST write a poem. (Note: this question seeks a reaction, not a summary.)
2) What is the significance of the non-linear format of this film? Connect this formatting choice to any terms or concepts we have discussed this quarter. Please respond to both components of this question. Challenge yourself.
3) How does this film reinforce or perpetuate gender norms and stereotypes (on a romantic interpersonal level as well as the larger social context)? How does it challenge them?
4) What connections can you draw between gender norms and stereotypes and how dialectical tensions (295-299) are expressed/demonstrated in the film?
5) How does Tom and/or Summer benefit from self-disclosure? Cite two specific benefits.
6) What does Tom and/or Summer risk from being self-disclosive? Cite two specific risks.
7) ...Speaking of hegemonic power!? Do films/media/music influence how we define love/marriage? In what way? Offer a specific example from your own life.
8) Trace the path of relation formation as you see it played out in Tom and Summer's relationship (287-291). Define each stage in a single sentence using YOUR OWN WORDS and provide a single sentence description of when that stage occurs in the film. Are there any stages that seem to be skipped entirely?
You may respond to this question from Tom and/or Summer's perspective.
Initiating:
Experimenting:
Intensifying:
Integrating:
Bonding:
9) Trace the path of decline/dissolution as you see it played out in Tom and Summer's relationship (291-293). Define each stage in a single sentence using YOUR OWN WORDS and provide a single sentence description of when that stage occurs in the film. Are there any stages that seem to be skipped entirely?
Differentiating stage:
Circumscribing stage:
Stagnating stage:
Avoiding stage:
Terminating stage:
10) What role does self-fulfilling prophecy play in this film?